Example systems and methods to transform events and/or mood associated with playing media into lighting effects are disclosed herein. An example apparatus includes a content identifier to identify a first event occurring during presentation of media content at a first time. The example apparatus includes a content driven analyzer to determine a first lighting effect to be produced by a light-producing device based on the first event and instruct the light-producing device to produce the first lighting effect based on the first event during presentation of the media content. The content identifier is to identify a second media event occurring during presentation of the media content at a second time after the first time. The content driven analyzer is to instruct the light-producing device to one of maintain the first lighting effect based on the second event or produce a second lighting effect based on the second event during presentation of the media content.

This communication device has a phase-modulation spatial light modulator; and a control unit which causes, during one frame time interval, the phase-modulation spatial light modulator to operate with first and second operation patterns. In a predetermined period within the one frame time interval, the first operation pattern includes a first light transmittable interval during which first signal light can be output, and a first pause interval during which the first signal light cannot be output whereas the second operation pattern includes a second light transmittable interval during which second signal light can be output, and a second pause interval during which the second signal light cannot be output. The first and second light transmittable intervals are each longer than a half of the predetermined period. The second pause interval is present within the first light transmittable interval, and the first pause interval is present within the second light transmittable interval.

A mirror unit may output a content and may communicate with a user's mobile phone, tablet, personal activity tracker, wearable computer, and/or health monitor. For example, the mirror unit may include a housing, a reflective mirror, a processor, an electronic display, a speaker, and a network interface. For example, the mirror unit may be capable of monitoring, in real-time, a health factor (e.g., a heart rate) during various activities.

A glass structure includes a glass body; a modulating unit coupled to the glass body to modulate optical characteristics of the glass structure; an interaction unit coupled to the glass body to provide an adjusting signal indicating an execution of adjusting the optical characteristics of the glass structure; and a control unit coupled to the modulating unit and the interaction unit respectively, the control unit being configured to receive the adjusting signal from the interaction unit and to control the modulating unit to modulate the optical characteristics of a target region of the glass structure in response to the adjusting signal. The interaction unit and the modulating unit are isolated from each other by a filling material having a transmittance equal to or greater than about 50%, a relative permittivity equal to or less than about 10, and a thickness equal to or greater than about 50 μm.

The invention is notably directed to a transflective display device. The device comprises a set of pixels, wherein each of the pixels comprises a portion of bi-stable, phase change material, hereafter a PCM portion, having at least two reversibly switchable states, in which it has two different values of refractive index and/or optical absorption. The device further comprises one or more spacers, optically transmissive, and extending under PCM portions of the set of pixels. One or more reflectors extend under the one or more spacers. An energization structure is in thermal or electrical communication with the PCM portions, via the one or more spacers. Moreover, a display controller is configured to selectively energize, via the energization structure, PCM portions of the pixels, so as to reversibly switch a state of a PCM portion of any of the pixels from one of its reversibly switchable states to the other. A backlight unit is furthermore configured, in the device, to allow illumination of the PCM portions through the one or more spacers. The backlight unit is controlled by a backlight unit controller, which is configured for modulating one or more physical properties of light emitted from the backlight unit. The invention is further directed to related devices and methods of operation.

The present disclosure provides a light shielding plate assembly and a control method thereof, a control device, and a vehicle. The image collecting module in the light shielding plate assembly is configured to obtain image information of the transparent panel and the human eye; the control module is configured to determine target position information of a gaze point of the human eye positioned on the transparent panel according to the image information, and determine a target control area corresponding to the target position information on the transparent panel; the detection module is configured to: detect optical information when the light passes through the target control area and arrives at the human eye; the control module is further configured to: adjust the light transmittance of the transparent panel in the target control area according to the optical information, so that the optical information is within a preset range.

An optical device stack includes at least one of a photodetector or an optical emitter and a metasurface. The metasurface is disposed over a light-receiving surface of the photodetector or a light emission surface of the optical emitter. The metasurface includes a first conductive layer having an electrically-tunable optical property and an array of conductive nanostructures disposed on a first side of the first conductive layer. A second conductive layer is disposed on a second side of the first conductive layer. An electrical insulator is disposed between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer. A change in an electrical bias between the metasurface and the second conductive layer, from a first electrical bias to a second electrical bias, tunes the electrically-tunable optical property from a first state to a second state, and changes an electrically-tunable optical filtering property of the metasurface.

Improved dither detection, measurement, and voltage bias adjustments for an electro-optical modulator are described. The electro-optical modulator generally includes RF electrodes and phase heaters interfaced with semi-conductor waveguides on the arms of Mach-Zehnder interferometers, where a processor is connected to output a bias tuning voltage to the electro-optical modulator for controlling optical modulation. A variable gain amplifier (VGA) can be configured with AC coupling connected to receive a signal from a transimpediance amplifier (TIA) that is configured to amply a photodetector signal from an optical tap that is used to measure an optical signal with a dither signal. The analog to digital converter (ADC) can be connected to receive output from the VGA. The processor can be connected to receive the signal from the ADC and to output the bias tuning voltage based on evaluation of the signal from the tap.

Apparatus are described herein related to augmenting human vision by means of adaptive polarization filter grids. A preferred embodiment is described as smart sunglasses, realized as see through head mountable device (HMD) configured to reduce glare originating from polarized light. Each eyeglass of the HMD is associated with a grid comprising a plurality of dynamically configurable polarization filters placed in the path of the light. A polarization analyzer module analyzes the polarization characteristics of a field of view and performs an optimization calculation. The polarization analyzer controls the said grid via a controller module in such a way that the filter state of each grid element can be addressed separately. The grid of polarization filters causes the polarization characteristics of the incident light to be adapted in such a way as to reduce glare and/or to provide a user of the said head mountable device with an enhanced visual perception of the field of view. The user of the described head mountable device has the option of selection between a plurality of polarization enhancement modes, such as horizontal or vertical polarization filtering only or a hybrid mode combining both horizontal and vertical polarization filtering on an individual basis for each grid element. Additionally smart window and smart mirror embodiments of the described adaptive polarization filter grids are introduced.

A rearview system may comprise a light sensor assembly having: a photosensor operable to detect light and generate a signal based, at least in part, on the detected light; a dichroic filter in optical communication with the photosensor and operable to filter light; and a rearview assembly having an electro-optic element may comprise an electro-optic medium and operable to variably change the amount of light passing through the electro-optic medium based, at least in part, on the signal. The dichroic filter may be configured to substantially inhibit light having a wavelength of less than 400 nm or greater than 650 nm from transmitting therethrough.